Seeing that all the generals nodded in agreement, Qiu Yizhi said to two of the Lieutenant Generals, "These two generals are of high rank. Can they come with me into the city to meet the governor?"
The two generals originally wanted to refuse, but since Qiu Yizi specifically asked them to go, they did not dare to disrespect him, so they had to bite the bullet and follow Qiu Yizi and Lin Shuhan a few steps towards Jinling City.
When they arrived at the foot of Jinling City, they saw a gate about ten feet wide, which was closed tightly. There were at least one or two hundred soldiers guarding the gate. When Qiu Yizhi and his men approached, one of them stepped forward to stop them and said, "According to the strict order of the governor and the military governor, no one except the former Jinling military governor can enter the city. Those who disobey the order will be executed."
Qiu Yizhi glanced at the officer and saw that he had a pair of green bean-sized eyes on his palm-sized face, a very small nose and mouth, and a full beard, which looked very funny. He couldn't help but feel a little contemptuous, so he said, "You can see clearly that I am not an officer, but the magistrate of Shanyin County. I can enter the city, right?"
"Shanyin County Magistrate...you are Qiu Yizhi... Lord Qiu?" the officer asked in surprise.
Qiu Yizi replied: "I am Qiu Yizi. Since the general recognizes me, please let me go into the city to meet the governor."
It turned out that Qiu Yizi had caused such a big disturbance before, and even if the civil and military officials in Jiangnan had never seen him, they had at least heard of his name.
When the officer heard that it was indeed Qiu Yizi, he knew that this man was quite difficult to deal with. He also remembered that the order he had received only mentioned that soldiers were not allowed to enter the city and did not include other civil officials, so he bravely said: "In that case, please come in, sir." After that, he waved his hand backwards, and the soldiers behind him immediately made way for a passage, and the city gate opened a gap that was only wide enough for one person to enter and exit.
Qiu Yizhi winked at Lin Shuhan and the other two Zhonglang generals behind him, then walked quickly forward through the passage made by the defenders. The other three got the hint and hurriedly followed.
Unexpectedly, when the officer saw Lin Shuhan and the others were also about to enter the city, he quickly reached out to stop them and asked, "Didn't Lord Qiu go into the city alone? Why are these people following along?"
Qiu Yizhi turned his head expressionlessly and said, "This Mr. Lin is my advisor and is required to be my advisor at any time. As for these two, they are also generals. What I want to discuss with the governor has a lot to do with these two. Why? Can't they enter the city?"
The general with the small face scratched his head and said, "Master Lin can enter the city, but what about these two generals? The governor has strictly ordered that no soldiers can be allowed in. Can you please wait for these two generals at the foot of the city?"
Qiu Yizi laughed grimly: "What if I insist on taking these two into the city?"
The officer knew that Qiu Yizi was not easy to deal with. Even Yin Chengliang, who had the final say in Jiangnan, was defeated by him. So he quickly put on a flattering smile and said, "Your Excellency is a man with great connections, so please don't make it difficult for me."
Qiu Yizi said, "It's good that you know my abilities. Don't fight against a rock with an egg." Having said that, he winked behind him and led the other three people to continue walking into the city.
When the officer saw this, he immediately panicked and stretched out his left hand to stop Qiu Yizi and the others, but his right hand subconsciously pressed on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
Qiu Yizi caught a glimpse of this detail and immediately seized on it, sneering, "Hmph, what do you want to do? Do you want to draw your sword? Do you want to kill us? Don't forget that we also have official hats on our heads. If you dare to murder an official of the imperial court, you will be punished along with your entire clan! Are you still counting on the governor and the governor to protect you? Dream on!"
Seeing that the officer's eyes looked a little weak after hearing what he said, he added fuel to the fire, "I think if you dare to take action, I'm afraid you won't be able to wait for the court to deal with you. We have 7,000 to 8,000 men stationed outside. When they hear that their commander has been killed, they will immediately rebel and chop you and your men into pieces!"
After hearing this, the officer was so frightened that his whole body stiffened, his right hand trembled constantly, and he forgot to take his hand off the hilt of the knife.
Qiu Yizi thought he still didn't want to let his group of people into the city, so he shouted loudly again: "Get out of my way!"
The officer was obviously frightened and immediately stepped back. He accidentally tripped over a broken brick with his left heel and nearly fell, looking very embarrassed.
Seeing this, Qiu Yizhi smiled inwardly with contempt, then threw away his sleeves and strode into Jinling City. Behind him, Lin Shuhan and the other two Zhonglang Jiangs also followed him into the city.
Once you enter the city walls, Jinling City becomes another world.
The city was not as chaotic and chaotic as the one outside. Instead, it seemed cleaner and more orderly than usual because of the strict defenses in the past few days. It turned out that Jinling City was close to the Yangtze River. Although the land route was temporarily closed due to the Japanese pirates' harassment, the city could still rely on water transportation to communicate with the outside world, and it seemed that it was not affected by the Japanese pirates at all.
Seeing this situation, Qiu Yizi seemed to finally understand why Qian Feng, the new governor of Jiangnan, kept the city gates closed and refused to let reinforcements into the city - the Japanese pirates had no means of attacking the city, so they only needed to keep them out of the city to ensure the safety of a corner of Nanjing.
However, Qiu Yizi naturally disdained this cowardly plan. Without stopping at all, he walked along the wide and flat bluestone avenue in Jinling City and went straight to the Jiangnan Daofu Yamen. He gave his name and handed over his business card, then asked the gatekeeper to go in and report.
Qian Feng's predecessor Yin Chengliang didn't like to work in the government office, but chose to meet people and do business in a Taoist temple called "Qingya Temple". Qian Feng had just arrived and didn't have the style of Yin Chengliang. When the Japanese pirates entered the country, he stayed in the government office honestly.
Qian Feng was an old official in Beijing, and was more informed than Yin Chengliang. He had heard that Qiu Yizhi was someone who had a say in front of the prime minister and several princes. So when he heard the announcement from the gatekeeper, he was surprised and ordered the soldiers to invite Qiu Yizhi in quickly. He then walked a few steps from the main hall of the government office and waited for Qiu Yizhi's arrival outside.
Qiu Yizhi didn't know Qian Feng. He only saw from afar an official wearing the meticulous third-rank uniform. He thought that there was no other high-ranking official of this rank in Jinling except the governor. He quickly stepped forward, bowed deeply to Qian Feng, and said, "I am Qiu Yizhi, the magistrate of Shanyin County. I am here under the order of General Cui Nan to support Jinling and clear out the surrounding Japanese pirates. I have come to report to the governor."
Qian Feng was a little unhappy when he saw Qiu Yizi didn't kneel down to him. He forced a smile and said, "Although Lord Qiu is a Jinshi, he is well versed in military strategy and has a good reputation. I have heard of him less than a month after taking office. With Lord Qiu coming to help, the Japanese pirates will surely be defeated."
Qiu Yizhi replied, "I have fought against the Japanese pirates several times before. I know that although they are foreigners, they are quite powerful. We must not be disrespectful to them, otherwise they will inevitably defeat us one by one with their small numbers."
He took a breath and continued, "Take the present for example. The local government troops and militias that have come to help in the battle are all living outside the city and have no military pay. Not only will they harass the people, but they will also make these soldiers feel that they are different from the people inside and outside the city. In battle, they will not fight with their lives, and their fighting power and morale will be greatly reduced. Therefore, please pass on the order to let the soldiers outside the city come in to rest so that they can fight with all their strength."
Qian Feng was originally a little dissatisfied with Qiu Yi's lack of etiquette, and after hearing such a good speech from him, he was even more unhappy, so he said: "This... I have also considered it. I am afraid that the soldiers from outside will rush into the city at once, and the military discipline will be poor, and Jinling City will be turned upside down. I am afraid it will be difficult to deal with it, right?"
As Qian Feng spoke, he walked back to the lobby and sat down behind the desk.
Qiu Yizhi had no choice but to follow Qian Feng into the main hall of the government office. Standing in the hall, he said, "Sir Governor, please look, these two are the Lieutenant Generals who command the government troops outside the city. If you are worried, you can sign a military order with them. If they really harass the people, you can punish them according to military law."
Qian Feng sneered after hearing this: "Humph! Military punishment? Haven't those soldiers harassed the people enough before? If they were really punished according to military law, the heads of the two generals behind Lord Qiu might have been hung on the top of the city wall of Jinling!"
Qiu Yizi hurriedly said, "Your Excellency the Governor is right. Before I entered the city, I also saw that the reinforcements outside the city had poor discipline. After discussing with several generals, the soldiers from all over the country have left the houses and set up camps in the open space. The discipline is in good order. If you don't believe me, you can go up to the city and take a look."
Upon hearing this, Qian Feng stared at the two generals behind Qiu Yizhi with a sullen face and asked, "Is this really the case?"
Although Qian Feng was not as majestic as Yin Chengliang before, the black gauze on his head and the official robe on his body were scary enough. His glance made the two lieutenant generals speechless. After a long while, one of them who was a little braver bowed and said, "Yes... Yes..."
Qian Feng didn't want to let the soldiers outside the city in to rest, but suddenly an idea came to him and he said, "I am a scholar, I am weak and don't know anything about military affairs. The troops inside and outside the city will be led by General Liu, the governor. You might as well discuss the matter of entering the city with him."
After that, Qian Feng called out loudly, "Come here, please invite the Jiedushi General Liu!"
After a while, a loud scolding voice was heard outside the main hall: "Who is so blind as to dare to break into Jinling City? Doesn't he know that the gatekeeper is my nephew? He is so bold, let me show you how I will deal with him!"
Qiu Yizhi thought that the person who was speaking was the governor Liu Qing. However, according to the Han Dynasty's practice of using civil officials to control military officials, when military officials met civil officials of the same level, they were like subordinates meeting their superiors, trembling like young wives. But he did not expect that this governor Liu would be so arrogant and rude, and he did not know why he was so fearless.
The person who had just spoken loudly was indeed the Jiedushi Liu Qing. He strode into the main hall, bowed to Qian Feng who was sitting high in the hall without looking away, and then shouted at the top of his voice: "Master Qian, it is said that someone broke into Nanjing by force. They really don't take us seriously!"
As he said this, without even turning his head, he raised his thumb and pointed in the direction of Qiu Yizi and the others behind him, and asked loudly, "Are these the only ones? Let me show you how I'm going to skin them alive!"
But he heard Qiu Yizhi say calmly behind him: "Jiedu Liu, General Liu, do you still recognize me?"
Liu Qing felt that the voice sounded very familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had heard it before. He turned around quickly, but was startled and couldn't help shouting, "Yi... Yi... Yidian..."
It turns out that Liu Qing was a small leader of the guards in Zheng Rong's Youyan Palace. He made military achievements in the campaign against rebellion and was promoted to the position of general step by step. Later, because Shi Changjie, the governor of Jiangnan Province, was involved in a corruption case and was dismissed from office, Liu Qing, as an old man from Youyan Province and a person that Zheng Rong trusted, was sent to take over Shi Changjie's position. (To be continued)